# Southwest International League

The Southwest International League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1951 through 1952. The league was formed through the merger of the Sunset League and Arizona–Texas League in 1951. The league hosted franchises based in Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas.

## History

Formed in 1951 by a merger of the Sunset League and Arizona-Texas League, the Southwest International League played two seasons as a Class C level league. In 1951, the Tijuana players went on strike over not being paid on a regular basis. In 1952, the league fielded an all-black team, which was originally supposed to play half of its games in the US and half in Mexico, but eventually settled in Porterville, California as the Porterville Comets. Only 4 of the 6 entries survived the complete 1952 season, before the league permanently folded.

## Cities represented

* Bisbee, AZ and Douglas, AZ: Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings 1951
* Ciudad Juarez, MEX: Juarez Indios 1951
* El Centro, CA: El Centro Imperials 1951
* El Paso, TX: El Paso Texans 1951
* Las Vegas, NV: Las Vegas Wranglers 1951–1952
* Mexicali, MEX: Mexicali Eagles 1951–1952
* Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Senators 1951
* Porterville, CA: Porterville Comets 1952
* Tijuana, MEX: Tijuana Potros 1951–1952
* Tucson, AZ: Tucson Cowboys 1951
* Yuma, AZ: Yuma Panthers 1951–1952

## Standings & statistics

1951 Southwest International League schedule President: Les Powers
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
| El Paso Texans | 88 | 56 | .611 | – | 104,061 | Art Lilly |
| Juarez Indios | 87 | 57 | .604 | 1.0 | 68,000 | Victor Manuel Canajes / Red Kress |
| Phoenix Senators | 83 | 61 | .576 | 5.0 | 65,320 | Wayne Tucker |
| Mexicali Eagles | 81 | 63 | .563 | 7.0 | 88,426 | Virgilio Arteaga / Dee Moore |
| Las Vegas Wranglers | 72 | 71 | .503 | 15.5 | 48,000 | Newt Kimball |
| Tucson Cowboys | 68 | 75 | .476 | 19.5 | 62,841 | Ken Meyers / Bud Dawson |
| Tijuana Potros | 65 | 79 | .451 | 23.0 | 55,000 | Luis Montes de Oca / Enrique Fernandez |
| Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings | 64 | 80 | .444 | 24.0 | 57,786 | Syd Cohen |
| El Centro Imperials | 59 | 85 | .410 | 29.0 | 23,847 | Red Kress / Bud Beringhele |
| Yuma Panthers | 52 | 92 | .361 | 36.0 | 50,557 | Ray Viers / Don Jameson |
Playoff: Mexicali 4 games, Phoenix 1.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Raymon Vargas | Juarez/El Paso | BA | .377 | Vince Gonzales | Juarez | W | 32 |
| Eduardo Cruz | Juarez | Runs | 135 | Memo Luna | Tijuana | SO | 318 |
| Ramon Vargas | Juarez/El Paso | Hits | 229 | Memo Luna | Tijuana | ERA | 2.52 |
| Ramon Vargas | Juarez/El Paso | RBI | 149 | Manuel Echeverria | Mexicali | PCT | .824 14–3 |
| Herman Lewis | Phoenix | HR | 23 | Tony Ponce | Phoenix | CG | 38 |
1952 Southwest International League President: Harry Ledell
| Team standings | W | L | PCT | GB | Attend | Managers |
| Tijuana Potros | 80 | 56 | .588 | – | 45,000 | Fernando Paredes |
| Mexicali Eagles | 74 | 57 | .565 | 3.5 | 35,239 | Dolf Luque / Virgilio Arteaga |
| Las Vegas Wranglers | 70 | 66 | .515 | 10.0 | 53,200 | William DeCarlo |
| Yuma Panthers | 62 | 68 | .477 | 15.0 | 52,280 | Lou Bekeza |
| Porterville Comets | 39 | 59 | .398 | NA | 32,000 | Chet Brewer |
| El Centro Imps | 28 | 47 | .373 | NA | 12,000 | Bud Beringhele / Frank Gabler / Henry Savin |
Porterville Franchise started the season as Riverside–Ensenda, became Riverside–Porterville, moved to Porterville April 25, then disbanded August 1.; El Centro disbanded July 13.
Player statistics :
| Player | Team | Stat | Tot | Player | Team | Stat | Tot |
| Pete Hughes | Tijuana | BA | .366 | Joe Orrell | Tijuana | W | 21 |
| Walter Tyler | Porter/Yuma | BA | .366 | Silverio Rodriguez | Mexicali | SO | 209 |
| Joe Clardy | Las Vegas | Runs | 142 | Joe Orrell | Tijuana | ERA | 2.01 |
| Joe Clardy | Las Vegas | RBI | 202 | Joe Orrell | Tijuana | Pct | .875; 21–3 |
| Pete Hughes | Tijuana | RBI | 131 |
| Pete Hughes | Tijuana | HR | 28 |
| Refugio Bernal | Mexicali | HR | 28 |
| Pete Hughes | Tijuana | BB | 180 |